May 20, 2011

Captain Greg Minton

Leander Police Department

705 Leander Drive

Leander, Texas 78641

OR2011-07118

Dear Captain Minton:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 422082.

The Leander Police Department (the "department") received a request for "[t]he basic information that ordinarily appears on the first page of an offense report for all Incident Detail Reports generated from calls for service" during a specified time period. You state the department has released some of the requested information. You also state the department has redacted certain information under sections 552.130 and 552.136 of the Government Code pursuant to Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009) and social security numbers pursuant to section 552.147 of the Government Code from the information it has released. ⁽¹⁾ Additionally, you state you advised the requestor of certain redactions made pursuant to section 552.1175(h) of the Government Code. We note, however, section 552.1175(h) pertains only to notifying a requestor of redacting information pursuant to sections 552.1175(b) and 552.1175(f) of the Government Code, not to redacting information under other exceptions in the Act. You claim the remaining requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Initially, we note some of the submitted information is not responsive to the request. The requestor seeks "[t]he basic information" for the incident reports at issue. ⁽²⁾ Thus, any information outside the scope of basic information is not responsive to the request. This ruling does not address the public availability of that information, and the department need not release any non-responsive information.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code. Section 58.007 reads in relevant part:

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be:

(1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records;

(2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and

(3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapters B, D, and E.

Fam. Code § 58.007(c). Under section 58.007(c), juvenile law enforcement records relating to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential. See id. § 51.03(a), (b) (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating a need for supervision"). For purposes of section 58.007(c), a "child" is a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age. See id. § 51.02(2). You assert Attachment B is confidential under section 58.007. Upon review, we agree Attachment B involves juvenile delinquent conduct and conduct indicating a need for supervision that occurred after September 1, 1997. You do not indicate, nor does it appear, any of the exceptions in section 58.007 apply to this information. Thus, the department must withhold Attachment B under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007(c) of the Family Code. ⁽³⁾

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Amy L.S. Shipp

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ALS/bs

Ref: ID# 422082

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. This office issued Open Records Decision No. 684, a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including Texas driver's license and license plate numbers under section 552.130 of the Government Code and credit card numbers under section 552.136 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision. Section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact a living person's social security number from public release without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office under the Act.

2. Basic information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle Publishing Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). We note basic information does not include Texas motor vehicle record information subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code.

3. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining arguments against disclosure of this information.

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